Monday, September 29, 2014

My quest to share the gospel of 80's and 90's action movies keeps on kicking as I'm proud to announce the next Dammaged Goods live event, An Evening With Carl Weathers featuring Predator and Action Jackson! If you're keeping track, it was Terminator 2: Judgment Day with Robert Patrick in April, Double Impact and Bloodsport with Sheldon Lettich in May then Universal Soldier and Rocky IV with Dolph Lundgren in June. Each of those events were held around Los Angeles at The Arclight Hollywood, Quentin Tarantino's New Beverly Cinema and The American Cinematheque's Egyptian Theatre. The Egyptian is going to be our new home and I'm pumped to have my banner flying at the house of Beyond Fest and Humans From Earth among other niche programs. As before we'll have trivia, prizes, custom tee shirts and a Q&A following the first feature. It all goes down on Friday, 10.24 at 7:30 PM in Hollywood. Tickets are available now, check out The American Cinematheque's website for more details. If you're a regular reader, drop me a line and I'll try to save you a tee shirt because if you got one from the other nights, you know it will be awesome.

Carl Weathers of course is known to the masses for his work in Rocky I - IV, Predator, Action Jackson, Happy Gilmore and Arrested Development among dozens of other credits. A former professional football player, Weathers caught the acting bug early and balanced athletics with theater while in college. Hitting Los Angeles in the 70's, one of Weathers' first roles was as Apollo Creed in the Oscar winner that nobody believed in, Rocky. Displaying a statuesque physique along with confidence and humanity to spare, Weathers was a bombastic and gregarious counterpart to Stallone's quiet underdog. Weathers returned in 3 more Rocky films, his character going from rival to mentor to best friend. Along the way, his growing physical and action oriented roles would be displayed in films for James Bond helmers Guy Hamilton and Peter S. Hunt appearing opposite the likes of Robert Shaw, Harrison Ford, Franco Nero, Lee Marvin and Charles Bronson. Weathers would go on to direct episodic television as well as keep busy as a voice actor.

In 1987's Predator, Weathers helped elevate arguably the most macho and muscular cast ever assembled on film, supporting burgeoning action icon Arnold Schwarzenegger and a stand out cast including Jesse Ventura, Shane Black, Bill Duke and Sonny Landham in the sci-fi action flick that finds an elite unit of special ops soldiers being hunted by an alien creature. Produced by Joel Silver, their relationship would extend to 1988's starring vehicle Action Jackson which sees Weathers as a legendary Detroit cop cleaning up the streets, taking on thugs and a maniacal car dealer with one liners, car crashes, blow torches and being able to leap over an oncoming taxi. Another great supporting cast includes Craig T. Nelson, Sharon Stone, Vanity, Thomas F. Wilson, Bill Duke, Robert Davi and Ed O'Ross.

The early 90's saw Weathers headline TV shows like Street Justice and In the Heat of the Night before popping up in 1996's Happy Gilmore with Adam Sandler as club pro Chubbs Peterson, a talented golfer who met his professional demise after losing a hand to an alligator. Weathers would later appear in Sandler's Little Nicky and 8 Crazy Nights. Continuing his comedy trek, Weathers appears as a frugal, stew making version of himself on 4 episodes of cult favorite, Arrested Development as well as losing his right hand again as Combat Carl in TV special, Toy Story of Terror.

So start pumping up now for endless Predator handshakes, mark your calendar and get to the choppa, I mean theater to hear a legend discuss his incredible career and watch a couple of kick ass flicks from a bygone era when muscles, machine guns and one liners ruled the box office.